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Review on Siteground

Hi, anyone here has any experience hosting with Siteground? When I first joined slightly a year ago, it was the perfect host. My website was very stable, without any major problems. Lately, it seems like either:
* my website has gotten "too big" (although I am using only 0.2% of the hard disk space allocated), with traffic amounting to less than 1% of the bandwidth allocated to me; or
* Siteground is on cost-cutting measures. They give 45 seconds to do my thing.... either upload/download my file, or do database maintenance. The Awstats statistics used to be very prompt but now, it's like 6-7 hours later than before. And access is difficult, many a times. Maybe they are trying to feed 5,000 people with 5 loaves of bread and two fish.

I tried to clear my old records from my database from time to time because I understand that Wikipedia uses 8 times more disk space than what is required by their articles because they keep all the historical records. But unfortunately, the server cut me off when I tried to clear my old records and my database got corrupted a few months back. Siteground then ask me to employ an outside consultant to fix the problem (as they do not have the ability to do that) or else start redoing my website all over again from scratch!

I told them to forget it and my website would have died a few months back but miraculously, they restored it for me, although they said they do not have the capability to do so previously. I have asked them what really happened but they refused to give me an answer. I stopped pressing them, thinking that I am blessed enough to have my one year's effort back. Still, I live in fear that the problem will repeat itself and it would be worse if it happens after I put in 10 years' work. I actually wanted to store my whole website with another webhost as a duplicate copy but Siteground wants me to pay to get my files out. If it is only once, I don't mind, but I am updating my website everyday!

(P/S: Because I thought the webhost does backup all files everyday, I did not backup myself. So I paid them US$28.50 to get my database restored. They had two backup copies and they told me "Sorry, both files also corrupted." So I asked, "Do I still need to pay then?" And they say, "You agreed to the terms and conditions that require you to pay, come what may." I said I didn't read it because I have no choice but to accept, so reading is a waste of time." And they said, "Sorry, when you press the button, it means you accept." Okay, okay, no quarrel with that. Anyway, now I engage them to do backups for me but how safe are the backups? I would feel more confident if I don't rely on one webhost. After all, this thing could happen anywhere. Maybe someone who had a good experience with Siteground can help me feel more comfortable because I prepaid 3 years for my hosting to get a discount, and I have one and a half year to go.)

If making regular backups is important to you, you may need to change hosts. Siteground has a pretty uncommon policy there, of requiring payment for all backups and restores.

Maybe there's some alternative way to do backups? FTP can be one solution (takes very long when you have lots of files, but still better than nothing). You could only download the new files that you have there. Phpmyadmin can help you get database backups, assuming that the databases you have are not too big. Even then, you could try to backup one, or a limited set of tables, at a time.

You really were lucky to get that database restored! I wouldn't temp fate again, I would make it a priority to have my own set of backups ready.

Maybe they are trying to feed 5,000 people with 5 loaves of bread and two fish.

Hi ldcdc;4102972, thank you for your response. Actually I have paid a lump sum for them to backup for me automatically after the incident. I think it cost me only around US$30, so it is not that bad.

My problem is I am using MediaWiki, and I want to delete all the old files which are meaningless to me, unless it becomes a community website one day. I can't even do that with the 45 seconds cutoff time. And I am still wondering... at the moment, I don't even need 45 seconds to do that. The server just shut me off after less than 15 seconds, I think. I don't know if there has been a change of management because it looks like this is not the company I signed up for, LOL. But they told me it is still the same.

The people at Siteground let on like they all American servers and can handle everything here in the states without delay. The issue is the servers are located in and the company is register in Luxenborg. I bought into a VPS plan because they told me that my site which was averaging about 2,000 visitors daily had outgrown shared hosting, since then due to health reasons my site is not near as busy as it was when I signed up for the VPS plan. So after running the VPS plan for about 6-months I loaded an app that was using a large number of cycles until they warned me about it and I removed it. So progress 6 more months and I ask then to change my server back over to shared service since I wasn't needing the extra horsepower anymore and they told me they can't. The reason given is I am on 1-year probation for the application error from 6-months earlier. I am looking for a new hosting copy as we speak and will not pay them another dime.

Truth be said, Siteground's technical support is probably the best in the world. Sometimes I wonder how they manage to respond so fast... almost instantaneously and they don't use robots. But then again, such support comes with tremendous costs. So if you are loaded and not tech-savvy, go for them, otherwise, avoid them like a plague, LOL. You can't ask them a simple question because there is no provision for it. They have a lot of categories for you to post a query and invariably, you will end up with a US$50 bill to post that question, not being able to find one of those free categories to do so. I still have about a year with them, but I left. Now I am happy with maiahost but truth be said again, their technical support is not as strong. What I like about them is that they are indeed friendly, something which you can't take for granted even in these days of customer-satisfaction focus. I believe Hostgator is good but they have grown too big to deal with you directly. I subscribed to their hosting but left when I realized that I have to deal with robots to answer my queries. Anyway, they honored their one-month guarantee and paid me promptly, something that you generally can't take for granted either.

From what you guys are saying, it looks as if the shared hosting plans are there more as a loss leader than anything. Then every little thing costs extra, which turns what seems to be a budget hosting package into a no longer cheap package. But, as long as it works for them, and getting quality service each time you pay, I guess its fine.

2,000 visitors daily had outgrown shared hosting

I guess it depends on how many page views you had, and how efficient the software that your site is using and its addons are. Employing cache is usually a fast way to reduce pressure on the server.

I have been using SiteGround as a hosting service for over 2 years now, and I am quite happy with their service. Customer service is fast and efficient, price is good compared to other hosts, specs are good too. Can't complain.

I have been using SiteGround as a hosting service for over 2 years now, and I am quite happy with their service. Customer service is fast and efficient, price is good compared to other hosts, specs are good too. Can't complain.

Denis

Hi Viaterra, I agree with you that SiteGround's customer service is probably the best in the world. I have always been amazed at how they do it. Once you post a ticket, they respond immediately, giving the impression that they either have an army of personnel attending to you or that they are using bots. But judging from the response, it can't be bots.

But now I realize one thing. Even Maiahost was the perfect host, so long as you keep your websites very very small. When you use a small fraction of the advertised allocation, they will find all kinds of tricks to get you to upgrade to VDS.

I just visited your website at http://viaterra.net. Very impressive. What hosting plan are you using? What is your average monthly bandwidth usage and disk space and how many percent are those, compared to the advertised allocation?

> What hosting plan are you using? What is your average monthly bandwidth
> usage and disk space and how many percent are those, compared to the
> advertised allocation?

I am on the standard plan (around 5 USD a month), and the site takes up about 2Gb of bandwith monthly for about 600 Mb of disk space. The allowed maximum for both is stated as ... unlimited. Can't beat that ... !

> What hosting plan are you using? What is your average monthly bandwidth
> usage and disk space and how many percent are those, compared to the
> advertised allocation?

I am on the standard plan (around 5 USD a month), and the site takes up about 2Gb of bandwith monthly for about 600 Mb of disk space. The allowed maximum for both is stated as ... unlimited. Can't beat that ... !

Denis

Hi Viaterra, I agree with you that you have a good deal. I moved from Siteground to Maiahost Multiple Plan after my http://dummipedia.org had problem accessing and they advised me to go for VDS. Never heard that Siteground had unlimited then. That was 5 months ago.

5 months down the road, Maiahost is asking me to go for VDS as I had built additional websites and used up 2.55GB of disk space and 2.35GB of monthly bandwidth transfer. According to Maiahost, they could sell the resources that I had consumed to 20 other people, meaning that inspite of whatever they say in their deceptive advertisement as 5G disk space and 50G bandwidth, in reality... my actual allocation is a maximum of 128MB disk space and 118MB monthly bandwidth for the Maiahost Multiple Plan that cost US$6.95 less 10&#37;. This shared hosting industry is really flooded with small dubious players.

I have moved to GoDaddy. GoDaddy is the biggest in the world, three times larger than its next competitor (according to Wikipedia), and I think there must good reasons for that. So far, they don't disturb me and their technical support (claimed to be bad by many) are as good as Maiahost, i.e. they answer you within 2-3 hours, unlike Siteground that respond instantly. On top of that, there have so many well-written guidelines that one can refer to, unlike Maiahost that has practically none.

Oh yes, one thing I have decided to abandon my 3-year hosting with Siteground (although I have another one and a year or so to go when I left early this year... expires mid next year) is that I can't delete my old database records and many other admin stuff because of their 15 sec. time out. I don't have this problem with Maiahost or GoDaddy where they keep asking for money for every damn little thing. My advice to everyone, after having seen Siteground and Maiahost is go straight to GoDaddy. I believe you should not regret unless all those hundreds of thousands of GoDaddy customers (have they reach a million customers?) are wrong.

I can't comment about Godaddy, but it sounds like they do a good job, and if you're happy with them, then that's great. As far as I am concerned, now that with SiteGround and happy with the service, I'll stay with them.

From what you guys are saying, it looks as if the shared hosting plans are there more as a loss leader than anything. Then every little thing costs extra, which turns what seems to be a budget hosting package into a no longer cheap package. But, as long as it works for them, and getting quality service each time you pay, I guess its fine.

I guess it depends on how many page views you had, and how efficient the software that your site is using and its addons are. Employing cache is usually a fast way to reduce pressure on the server.

Hi ldcdc, Maiahost claims to be using Dual Xeon 5450 Quad Core 3.0GHz. According to Server Intellect, Dual Processor Intel Xeon 5450 3.00GHz costs US$599 upwards. When I left Maiahost, the server I was in was hosting 558 domains. Let's say that server hosts two-third Single Plan and one-third Multiple Plan that allows 5 domains. Let's also be very very conservative and say that every Multiple Plan uses up its full allocation (very unlikely, though). Thus, 558 domains means 159 Single Plans and 80 Multiple Plans. A Maiahost Single Plan costs US$3.95 per month while Maiahost Multiple cost US$6.95, less 10% for both. Collections per month after discount is US$1,065. Payback period for the server is 17 days. What kind of business can beat that? Of course there are other expenses like bandwidth, engineers' salaries, etc etc... but still, it is a lucrative business, what with many webmasters abandoning their sites after a few months.

I can't comment about Godaddy, but it sounds like they do a good job, and if you're happy with them, then that's great. As far as I am concerned, now that with SiteGround and happy with the service, I'll stay with them.

all the best,

Denis

Hi Viaterra, yes... no reason to shift unless you hit a problem. This shifting around is a big headache, once you have a handful of websites. Spoils one's momentum and one's mood.

Have Siteground also remove the 15-second time-out restriction? It is very restrictive. Can't even download anything from my website or do much at the backend in MyPHPAdmin.

(P/S: If they have, I may host one website there... after all, I still have a hosting with them until mid-next year.)

I don't know, it would be best to ask them directly, although I don't know if this is the kind of thing that any hosting service would admit. I haven't come across this problem myself so I can't say.

Denis

Sorry, the cut-off time is 45 seconds, not 15 seconds. But access time was so slow that by the time I got the relevant webpage loaded, my 45 seconds was almost up. Seems like you haven't been toying much with your database. Needs cleaning up from time to time to keep it small.

Well, I would say that any webhost is a good host as long as you keep your website small... maybe 5&#37; of what they promise in their advertisement. My trouble with Siteground, however, began after I used up only 0.2% disk space allocation and less than 1% monthly bandwidth. They shifted me to a new server (obviously an old lousy one, or a second-hand one, LOL) and all hell break loose. My database got corrupted during the transfer and I had to pay for it to get restored (didn't backup my own since I couldn't download it as a result of the 45-sec cut-off). Even then, after paying about US$28 or so, they said their two backups were corrupted but I still need to pay because I had agreed to their terms and conditions.

I haven't had those cut-off problems with Maiahost or Internet-Webhosting so far, and I am new with GoDaddy. (Internet-Webhosting hasn't given me any problems although I have been with them for 3 years because I had one foreign-language website there that I hardly work on these days, LOL.) I did a few things at GoDaddy which would be impossible to do at Siteground and came out of it very impressed. But no, I am not suggesting that you go to GoDaddy. Shifting is not a joyful experience. I am glad that I have decided to choose the biggest webhost in the world and if I am still not happy, then I will have to host my own websites in my own computer. Some of my friends have been doing that and I have always been wondering why the hassle when you can pay and forget about all the hassle.

ekompute, many hosts try to keep you happy for the first 2 months or so, usually during the money back guarantee period, by putting your sites on a fast server. After that period, they move your sites to some other packed servers. That could be the reason why you were happy with Maiahost and Siteground initially but gradually feel that they are not up to scratch. Now you have just moved to Godaddy and everything seems to be working well. Again, GD is going to keep you happy for the first month or so. But let's see how GD works for you. They haven't got much praise in the web hosting department. But I'd also like to see how they are doing now. keep us updated.

ekompute, many hosts try to keep you happy for the first 2 months or so, usually during the money back guarantee period, by putting your sites on a fast server. After that period, they move your sites to some other packed servers. That could be the reason why you were happy with Maiahost and Siteground initially but gradually feel that they are not up to scratch. Now you have just moved to Godaddy and everything seems to be working well. Again, GD is going to keep you happy for the first month or so. But let's see how GD works for you. They haven't got much praise in the web hosting department. But I'd also like to see how they are doing now. keep us updated.

Hi Tim25, you are right. It took 10 months for Siteground to move me to some packed servers and asked me to upgrade, but it only took Maiahost 5 months to do so, although I went for their Multiple Plan. In fact, they even forgot that I went for their Multiple Plan when they cut me out. One mail told me that my CPU usage limit was 0.8%, LOL... I laugh because that is not my plan. That is for Single Plan. My plan was Multiple Plan for 1.5%.

Yes, one of the reason why I didn't go to GoDaddy earlier was because of the negative reviews that they have received. But after going through two bad experiences, I told myself after reading what Wikipedia had to say. If GoDaddy is three time bigger than its nearest competitor, then there must be something in GoDaddy. So far so good, but I will keep all of you posted. My next move (if GoDaddy is like all the rest) is either to go for free webhosting like Wetpaint (which I am particularly attracted) or else to host it in my own computer like what my friends are doing. Maybe even half half as I have some eight websites at the moment.

Funny you should say that. The first month of Godaddy hosting has been quite discouraging for me, especially when compared to other hosts.

Hi ldcdc, can you tell me what you were unhappy about? Maybe each of us are holding one part of the elephant, like the 6 blind men and the elephant. I didn't need much of GoDaddy's technical support as I am so used to getting responses from webhosts like "you are using 3rd party software which we don't provide support." By the way, I use Mediawiki and there are a few forums that I can get good support, particularly Mediawiki-I. All I need is some disk space and bandwidth where I don't get harassed from time to time.

Funny you should say that. The first month of Godaddy hosting has been quite discouraging for me, especially when compared to other hosts.

lol. It really varies for GD. Mostly were happy initially, but then started grumbling after a while. While some hate their service so much even during the initial period. To me, GD is just a normal host with servers offering normal web hosting facilities, nothing so much spectacular to consider over them, as compared with HG and the likes.

I'm not one who need support much, and this is just a testing account. But the server's performance, uptime etc. are clearly (in my case) not at the level at what you can expect from other hosts in the same bracket of the market (budget hosting, or hosting the average guy).

I'm not one who need support much, and this is just a testing account. But the server's performance, uptime etc. are clearly (in my case) not at the level at what you can expect from other hosts in the same bracket of the market (budget hosting, or hosting the average guy).

Hi ldcdc, yes, I agree with you that accessing the Control Panel and access time to my websites are kind of slow. But after going through two webhosts that play monkey after they think they can pressure me to buy their VDS Plans way before I even consume 5% of my allocation as advertised, I have had enough. And I am counting on GoDaddy that they will not do this to me. Maybe they are the same as the others, but considering the fact that they are the biggest webhost in the world, I guess there must be something to them that sets them apart from the small players.

lol. It really varies for GD. Mostly were happy initially, but then started grumbling after a while. While some hate their service so much even during the initial period. To me, GD is just a normal host with servers offering normal web hosting facilities, nothing so much spectacular to consider over them, as compared with HG and the likes.

Actually, I went to Hostgator before I went to Maiahost. It was like from the frying pan into the fire, LOL. If most of GoDaddy's customers started grumbling after a while, I would expect them to leave GoDaddy. But if they do not leave, there must be good reason why they continue to stay. I have people whom I know to have been with GoDaddy for years and are still happy. The reason why I did not go earlier was because I heard about their lack of technical support and I was technically weak then. Now, I feel slightly stronger and so far, I have no problems yet with GoDaddy except that access to their Control Panel is kind of slow. But then again, front end is more important than back end to me, so I can live with that.

The reason why I went to Hostgator was that I hear that you can even get in touch with its owner. This is a myth.... maybe when Hostgator was small, yes, but not any longer. I can't even get in touch with their Technical Department promptly. The reason why I left Hostgator after a week or so is that they don't bother to answer my tickets properly. They just answer one part and as long as they answer something, they considered it answered. I had to post my tickets 3 times to get the answer I want. And not just once. The same thing happen with my 2 or 3 tickets. But the good thing that I must say about Hostgator is that they honor their guarantee trial period and paid me promptly via my credit card... not like Maiahost where I pay with credit card and receive my so-called refund via Pay Pal even though I told them that I don't have an account.